What are some of the best microphones for video? I look at different types of microphones and have narrowed down my fave to help you get good quality audio on your videos for YouTube, Facebook, Instagram or any other social media platform.
🕒Timestamps🕒 + Mics mentioned in this video🎤
Lav mics
2:27 Rode SmartLav +: http://amzn.to/2n0i0Lu
3:25 Rode extension cable: http://amzn.to/2lPjStl
4:33 Boya BY M1: http://amzn.to/2nbU6zX
5:43 Deity V Lav: https://amzn.to/2PwegAW
Wireless
7:46 Rode Wireless Go: http://rode.com/wireless/wirelessgo
Mini shotgun
9:52 Rode Video Mic Me L: https://www.rode.com/microphones/videomicmel
10:51 Deity D4 Duo: https://deity-microphones.myshopify.com/collections/video-microphones/products/d4duo?variant=34448503275680&aff=114
USB Mics
13:04 Rode NT USB: http://amzn.to/2nXlr8g
14:08 Rode NT USB mini: https://www.rode.com/microphones/nt-usb_mini
Shotgun mic
14:54 Deity D3 Pro: https://amzn.to/3fsySo8
16:26 Rode Video Mic NTG: http://www.rode.com/microphones/videomicntg
🔥My microphones and tech reviews playlist🔥 so you can hear some sound bites from the mics: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list…
🔴Get your free Facebook Live Cheat Sheets🔴: https://saranguyenonline.com/special/social-media-checklist/
Best Microphones for Video (Video Mic Review + Comparison) – Video Transcript
I have a great topic today. Today I’m going to look at what are some of the best microphones that you can use for your videos, whether you’re looking to live stream like I’m doing right now, or if you are looking to upload videos to YouTube, upload videos to Facebook or live stream on Facebook as well.
I’m going to narrow down, well, I’m going to talk about a lot of microphones today. Let’s just put it that way. And then I’m going to show you or talk about the pros and cons of them.
And, you know, I’ve narrowed down a lot of microphones so that I can bring you the best ones today. For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Sara Nguyen, and I kind of live stream about live streaming.
I help coaches consultants and creative pros build their business using video on social media with ease. Now definitely make sure that you check out the links in the description because I’ll have the timestamps as well as all of the microphones that we’re going to cover today.
And we’ve got a lot of microphones to cover today. Yeah, I think it’s going to kind of reveal a little bit about me and how many microphones I have, and these aren’t all of the microphones.
These are my favourite ones and the ones that I can actually recommend. Let’s get right into it. Now, just before we get into the many, many mics, I want to, I want to say a few things.
Having good audio is definitely important because it affects your viewers’ experience. The better audio that you have, I guess the less distracted that they will be. If you’ve got audio that’s crackly, if you’re peaking, if like there’s too much background noise, that kind of disrupts their experience.
Having a good microphone means that you can get better audio so that your videos, you know, people aren’t distracted by noise and they can focus on you and the content in your videos. But let’s go through some of my favourite and some of my recommended, the microphones that I recommend.
And I’m only talking about ones that I’ve used. There are so many microphones in the market, so many different brands, but you’ll learn some of the ones that I use today. I’m going to start, I dunno, I’m going to start, I think by size, by the smallest and easiest, and then we’re going to progress from there.
In terms of having a microphone, I think one of the easiest ones to get started with is a Lavalier microphone. Something like this one. This is the RODE SmartLav+, and this lavalier microphone works so you would clip the microphone onto your shirt or somewhere, and then you would plug this other side.
You would need an attachment to plug it into your mobile device. You can also plug it into your DSLR camera. I really like the RODE SmartLav+. I’ve been using the RODE SmartLav+, it was probably the first, one of the first microphones that I got when I started recording video.
And it was just a reliable, good little microphone. The downside of the RODE SmartLav+ is that it’s only– how long is it? 1.2 metres in length.
If you wanted to use it with a camera and have the camera a little bit further away from you, you would actually, the microphone on its own is a little bit too short. You would need to get an extension cable and RODE do provide an extension cable.
You can purchase the extension cable and the extension cable is 3.5 metres. That gives you a lot of length that you can then, you know, be on your merry way and go three and a half metres away from the camera so that you can move around.
That’s probably the first one that I have used and recommend. I recommend it because it’s solid. It works. It gets good quality sound. Price-wise, it’s not too bad. It is a lavalier microphone at the end of the day, and it’s pretty reliable.
That’s why I recommend the RODE SmartLav+. I do have a review and sound test. I’m not going to do sound test in this live stream because playing audio through the live stream can be a bit hit and miss. I don’t feel it’s a fair representation, for me to do it that way. But check out the links in the description, you’ll find the link to the playlist of my tech reviews and the RODE SmartLav+.
There’s a tech review with a sound test there as well. Now, if you’re looking for something a little bit cheaper, a good alternative is the BOYA BY-M1. That’s this baby. Now, I think this is a good alternative because it’s cheaper than the RODE and these higher-end lavalier microphones.
You get a lot of cable, so you don’t need to get an extension cable. It’s all in one. It runs off a battery, so the RODE doesn’t have battery, but the BOYA BY-M1 does run off a battery.
It’s a little, it’s one of those little batteries. There’s tiny little batteries that will fit into something like this. And it’s a pretty good microphone if you, you know, in terms of a budget microphone.
I don’t think it sounds as good as the RODE and the Deity, which I’m going to talk about shortly, but it’s good enough to get started, right? The best microphone, the best light, the best camera is the one that you’ve got. If you can’t afford the Deity, or the RODE, the BOYA is not a bad line.
I just found that compared to the other two, the BOYA, I don’t sound as good on the BOYA as I do on the other ones. And I find that it’s a little bit more sensitive than the other mic.
It picks up a little bit more noise than the other ones, but it’s totally fine to get started with. Now, my new up and coming favourite, and the third lavalier microphone that I think really has just taken my breath away, it’s like a new lover who’s just come by and, you know, just wowed me is the Deity V-Lav. This is the case that you get with the Deity.
And I did, Deity did send me this microphone. That’s a disclaimer there. They sent it to me for free. And I love the Deity V-Lav because you get beautiful sound, you get a lot of cable. People complain about the length of this my microphone’s cable, but then again, I think if it were shorter, you would complain about that.
I think the length is not a bad thing. You just have to manage it with some, you know, these velcro-wy tie things. I really love the quality of sound that you get from the Deity V-Lav.
It works with your mobile device, it works with your camera, if you have a DSLR, so it’s a really versatile microphone. And the quality and the clean audio that you get from the Deity, I was really blown away. When I tested it out, I was like Deity stop it.
It was such an amazing quality sound. And you don’t have to do anything in order to configure the sound, well in order to make it work. And that at the end of the day, I think is what I’m looking for.
I don’t want to mess around with postproduction with audio. I don’t mess around with settings. I just want to turn it on, use it and have it work. The Deity V-Lav now is like my favourite of all the microphones that I own and I own quite a few.
Definitely recommend the Deity V-Lav. Beautiful, beautiful sound that you get from it for a lavalier microphone. I have a review coming up, so I’m working on it, but as always check out the link in the description to my playlist, to all my tech reviews. That covers lav mics.
And lav mics are a great way of getting started. The’yre quick and easy to use and they’re quite versatile, you know, they do the job. Let’s talk about what if you did not want to be wired and what if you really need the flexibility on your video to move around?
We have, we have wireless options. And with the wireless options, I have been testing out and using the RODE Wireless GO. It’s these guys.
With this wireless one, you have the microphone which you clip to yourself and then you have the receiver, oops, sorry, you had the receiver bit, which you can then plug into your phone or a camera as well.
I really love the wireless option that you get with the RODE Wireless GO. In terms like, so this has a microphone on itself, so the one that you clip to yourself. I do find that this microphone is okay.
It’s not blown me away amazing, but it’s okay. And it works better because you can actually take a lavalier microphone and plug it into the microphone itself. And that will give you better audio.
You could use it as a wireless device and plug a lavalier microphone to get cleaner audio. I find it’s much better with another microphone plugged into it, which kind of adds to the cost of it, but it’s like that wireless, the whole wireless thing is always a little bit expensive at the time at this time.
But yeah, that’s an option because some people, you know, if you’re doing fitness videos, if you’re doing cooking videos, cables kind of get in the way. If you want a wireless option, the RODE Wireless GO, it’s a decent option. And I’ve played with another wireless microphone who I won’t name and the audio was just dirty.
It was just static and it was, but with the RODE Wireless GO, it was pretty good. Once you plugged in an external or another lavalier microphone into it or whichever microphone that you want. That’s a really, really good option.
That’s the wireless option. Let’s go on to some other alternatives. Now, I’ve got some mini shotguns. I told you I have a lot of microphones. I like the mini shotguns, and these are kind of two different classes, but I’ve had to put them in the same grouping for this livestream.
I really love the RODE VideoMic Me-L. This one I’ve been using for ages and this one works really well. It connects via lightning into your mobile device, right? You just snap it onto your phone like that. And then you can do your stories. You can do your live streams.
I love this little one because it just works. I use it all the time for my YouTube stories and my Instagram stories. And my Facebook stories, I guess. All the stories, I use it for all the stories.
And I love that you can just plug it in and you get really good audio. I have a review on the RODE VideoMic Me-L, but just keep in mind that if you do get this one, it’s only, you can’t use it with your camera.
You can only only use it with your phone because that’s what it is. It’s a mobile shotgun. It’s not meant to be for others. And now if you do want to get one that you can use with your mobile and your DSLR camera, Deity, my new flirty lover, Deity have the D4 Duo, and Deity did send me this one for free.
That’s another disclaimer. And this one works really well. You can use it with your mobile device, you can use it with your DSLR. The good thing, the interesting thing about this microphone, and it’s really new, is that you can use the microphone at the front and at the back, and you can also plug in a lavalier microphone into the, uncovering it, into the port here.
Technically you can have like three microphones being in use at the same time. Where’s the lav that I just put down? Here it is, let me show you. You could also plug in the lavalier microphone so that you can have sound from here, sound from here and sound from here.
It’s all the sounds, all the sounds is what you can have, which is really, really interesting. This is the Deity D4 Duo. Interesting little shotgun, you know, it’s pretty tidy, it’s discreet.
Use it as a vlogging type of style so that you can, you know, get really good sound. But it’s an interesting one. It’s a really new one, yeah, I like where Deity are going. They’re quite innovative.
And they’re the first ones that I’ve seen that have the microphone within the shotgun, both the front and the back and another plug to put the microphone in there as well. All the sounds. They’re the two shotgun microphones that I recommend.
I think it’s not fair to compare the Deity D4 Duo to the RODE VideoMic Me-L because the VideoMic Me-L is only a lightning connector. It’s only for your phone, whereas this one you can use with other devices.
I don’t think it’s quite fair to compare them side by side, but they are alternatives. They are alternatives. Now, let’s start to get into the slightly bigger mics. I have been using for the longest time, and particularly with my live streams, USB microphones.
Just the USB microphones, not just, but a USB microphone that you plug into your computer to get good audio. For the longest time I was using the RODE NT-USB. This one, and I would have it on a boom arm or a mount and just, you know, talk away.
I’ve been using this one for years. I get really good, reliable, clean sound. I like with USB microphones that they kind of filter out a lot of the noise. I live in a complex that has like 40 other units.
And, you know, it’s a little bit noisy, cars coming in and out. Sometimes I can hear some babies crying, but with the USB microphones, it just knocks up the sound and it just picks up me. That’s always a good thing.
I really can definitely recommend the RODE NT-USB, as you can see, there’s a dent in it. I use it all the time, really, really sturdy stable microphone and it hasn’t let me down, unlike some other USB brands, which I’m not even going to talk about.
Now, the only downside to this I think is that it’s a little bit on the large side. Look it’s like the size of my face. It’s huge, but RODE have kind of countered that and they came out with this year, the RODE NT-USB mini.
It had a little baby, and this is a smaller version obviously of that microphone. In terms of the quality of sound, it is as good. I find this as good from the test that I’ve done. And it’s perfect to plug into your computer.
You can also plug it into your devices as well. You can plug it into your, you know, iPad, you know, mobile device as well if you want it to record audio using the microphone into those devices. And it’s as reliable, which is what I really, really love about it.
That brings us to the last two. At the moment, at the moment, through this live stream, I’m talking to you through a Deity shotgun, and I’m talking to you through the Deity D3 Pro, I’m gonna lift it up.
I have a new favourite microphone, which is the Deity D3 Pro. This microphone was also sent to me by Deity. They sent me quite a few mics and I love them for that. But I love it because I get really clean audio, it knocks out all the noise, but it’s just like this beautiful quality sound that I can get from this microphone.
And I don’t have to do anything about, you know, to get that. I find the quality of sound is different to what you would get from the USB microphone. And if I talk like this, I can do like ASMR or I can get this podcasty sound.
I just love the depth and the quality of sound that I get from the Deity. Absolutely in love with this microphone. You can use it, I obviously use it plugged directly into my computer when I live stream.
You can plug it into your camera, your DSLR, and you can also use it plugged into your mobile devices. Well really versatile, really smart microphone, beautiful sound. I’m not one of those people who likes to edit audio in post production.
I don’t even like to edit video or anything in post-production. That’s why I go live. It’s so much more efficient. That said the Deity D3 Pro is a shotgun that’s easy to use that isn’t overwhelming, that works that you can plug in and that you can use.
Highly recommended. Now as a direct competitor to the Deity D3 Pro, which you’re seeing right now, I also have used the RODE of course. It’s if it’s not RODE it’s Deity, right?
The RODE, this is the VideoMic NTG. Now I find that the VideoMic NTG is a good microphone, but it runs for me a little on the sensitive side. As I said, I live in a complex and when I was live streaming with it and I had the gain turned all the way down, it was still picking up noise from the outside that the Deity didn’t.
I’m still working on it. It’s a good, I think that this is a really, really good microphone, not as amazing for me for live streaming because I don’t, they say it’s meant to be like a USB microphone, but I really think it’s more of an outdoor logging shotgun, use it with your DSLR camera type of microphone in my experience, but I definitely still think it’s a very good microphone.
Just a little bit too sensitive for what I want to do. And for someone who doesn’t want to do any post-editing. But you know, it’s a good microphone. Definitely between the Deity and the RODE, my favourite is the Deity. And I use it all the time now, as you probably see in my videos.
But they’re the ones that I would recommend. Now, that wraps up my recommended microphones. As you can see, I’ve got, I’ve got a lot of microphones and, you know, different– I have a lot of microphones because I’ve kind of added to my collection as I created more video, as I did more different things.
When I first started, I was only using my mobile to live stream, and I was only using my mobile to record video. But now, you know, I’m doing it a lot more from desktop and I’ve just progressed over the years.
I think at the end of the day, the best microphone is the one that you’ve got. Get something get started with it. There’s nothing wrong with a lavalier microphone. They, you know, they work perfectly fine. There’s nothing wrong with a USB versus a shotgun. It really is what works best for what you need.
And I’ve got all of the links in the description to kind of help you out. You know, all of the options. That that’s it. That wraps up all of my recommended microphones for this live stream.
Thank you so much for joining me. I am doing a collaboration. We haven’t done it yet, but we will so make sure you check back to the video with Pete Johns. And we’re going to talk about, okay, now that you’ve got a microphone and how do you set it up?
How do you position it? What do you do in terms of configuring it so that you can get the best sound for your videos and your live stream? That’s coming, hit that notification bell, subscribe so that you can get notified when that comes out.
And that essentially is it. If you found this video useful, give me a thumbs up and don’t forget to subscribe to my channel for more tech reviews for more social media training and for a lot of fun.
And you know, if you are looking to get started with video, make sure you grab my Facebook Live Cheat Sheets. It’s a super simple way to get you up and streaming on Facebook live, even if you’ve never hit record before.
I’ll put the link in the description and I’ll also put the link on the screen somewhere. Thank you so much for joining me. Hope you’ve enjoyed seeing most of my mics and I’ll see you in the next broadcast. Bye for now.
